Bang (Speed Racer: The Next Generation)

One

I do not condone any of the actions portrayed in this work of fiction.
_____________

The lunch room was packed like any regular Thursday afternoon. Students walked busily down the isles while some students hung out in groups. A pack of four sat off to the side at their own table. Lucy, Conor, X, and of course, Speed seemed to be the only ones actually sitting at a table. Conor was tapping away on his tablet while Lucy read a book. The brothers were just conversing.

Speed only paid half of his attention to X. He was partly falling asleep from staying up all night trying to study. By study, it meant read notes for a few minutes then get on Tumblr, or Twitter, or look through the news feed. X softly tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are you even listening to me?" X asked him after Speed looked at him.

"Not really. I'm tired and I don't really care for the topic," He replied, waking up.

"Oh well, you are missing out. I thought it was pretty cool," He shrugged. Speed laughed.

"What were you talking about again?" He grinned.

X rolled his eyes and got up, "I'm going to find my girlfriend."

Speed didn't insist on him staying, so he left. While Speed went back to gazing around the cafeteria. A boy with short, soft tannish-brown hair stood with crossed arms by the end of the row. He held an odd smirk of his face. Speed pondered for a minute. He knew everyone in first lunch. Not all personally, but he knew everyone's face. It had to be a new kid. Why would a kid start on a Thursday of all days?

He wasn't pondering for long when Lucy addressed him, "You okay? You look like a confused puppy right now?"

"Oh, I'm fine," He replied, looking back to the boy who had disappeared, "Just thought Thursday is a strange day for a new kid to begin having classes..."

Lucy gave him a slightly worried but humorous look, "Not sure I want to know how you got on that topic or idea of all topics. We don't get new kids on Thursdays. We rarely even get new kids."

Speed was about to say he just saw a new kid when the bell cut him off. Lucy and Conor jumped up to go to their next class. Speed passed for a second before something whipped across the back of his head. Annalise snickered at him, holding her purse up high.

"Hey, what do you even have in there! Bricks?" Speed exclaimed staring at the bag. X shook his head at her. Annalise shrugged.

"Why should you care what's in it? Not like it matters what I hit you with," She smiled sadistically, a bit of playfulness hidden underneath.

X walked on without her, "Leave him alone, we have class Annalise."

They left and so did Speed.
_____________

Class was average: boring lecture, homework, then study time. Nothing really out of the ordinary. Professor Aniskov ranted about something Speed wasn't paying attention to. It really was an average day.

Lucy talked to Conor. Speed turned to face them when something hit the back of his head. A small paper airplane landing beside him. He picked it up and looked at it. On the side an ornately drawn X was etched across the side. It was a real mystery of who it was from.

He turned around and looked at X, a half-grin on his face. X laughed softly. Speed shook his head then turned back around. The door opened slightly. The boy from earlier strode right across the stage and took a seat in the front. His feet were immediately propped up on the desk, yet Aniskov said nothing about it. Who in the world was this kid?

No one else seemed to notice this kid stroll in, making Speed even more curious about him. Then again, the class was half asleep anyway. They may just be too tired to try and care about him. Lucy poked Speed's shoulder. He glanced at her.

"What are you staring at?" She asked.

Speed nodded in the direction of the kid, "The new kid. Just came in. Front row."

Lucy looked forward to where he indicated. She craned her neck, searching with interest, "I don't see anyone. You'll have to point him out some other time," She shrugged.

The bell rang. Students jolted awake and others drowsily made their way out into the isles before leaving. Speed hesitated, lingering. He just stared at where the kid used to be.

He just shook his head, mentally rolling his eyes at himself. There was no reason to be so intrigued by the kid. It was getting weird. So, Speed left the class, a few paces behind Lucy and Conor.
_____________

Speed saw him pass in the hall, generally when his annoyance tolerance was at the peak. That made it significantly difficult to talk to him. No matter what, it wouldn't turn out too great.

All Speed could do was wonder. Why did he even bother in wondering about it? He had nothing much better to do at the time. The races continued but he was not allowed to participate. No real spark in his day. He supposed it was just something to do.

Just about a week and some prior, he and X were both driving recklessly without permission and caused a wreck, resulting in himself getting knocked out for almost two days. No one bothered him during the following days, but that went out the window quickly.

Annalise slowly got worse. Her and her two hell-bringers agrivated him whenever possible. It was mostly small things: kicking his chair, chewing gum loudly in his ear, drawing on his notebooks, name calling. Occasionally, he would be shoved or tripped. It was a malicious game they played. There didn't seem to be any negative downsides to the three, and Speed just went on with his day.

X never fully approved, yet he aided in his own way. He let Annalise do it, turning a blind eye on it. Speed suspected the older brother should be more protective, which he generally was, but not when it came to his girlfriend's own antics. It was free game.

The physical harassment X did speak out against. Not after an injury should someone start taking blows again. It might 'screw something up' he stated. It just meant it didn't happen with X around.

With all this, focusing on some random kid he saw in the hall seemed like a highlight if anything. It was a bit of fun trying to figure out who the-kid-that-doesn't-exist was.
_____________

It was an entire week before he finally spoke to the kid. It was right after two students in his fifth hour mocked him for nearly failing two quizzes in class. They had been easy quizzes, he had just zoned out. His mind was elsewhere.

The teen strode up to him, grinning a wide smirk. Everyone left already, just leaving a sulking Speed and this kid. Speed looked at him with bright eyes. Finally, he got to meet him. The kid scratched his neck, "You just let them do that?"

"Do what... Oh joke around? I don't complain. I just let them and ignore it. It doesn't bother me that much."

"I know that's a lie," The kid spoke quickly. How would he know?

"Well, fine it does bother me... A little. But there's no harm in it."

"If I was you," he grinned as if he had just heard the best secret, "I wouldn't let them do that. I'd stand up to them."

Speed rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Anyway-"

"Alec. My name is Alec. You are Speed Racer."

"I didn't even finish my sentence!" Speed blinked. The kid was weirding him out just slightly.

"Oh, oops. Either way. I answered your question and eliminated the introduction. You're welcome."

Speed slung his backpack over his shoulder. His feet tapped across the floor as he started to walk away. He pondered out loud, staring at the kid, "I never asked you my question."

Speed shook his head, looking at the door. He walked farther turning back around, "Alec, so..."

The kid was gone.